The New Year is THE PERFECT time for a post Xmas declutter frenzy!! Yup, I’ve been busily working myself into a frenzy clearing out cupboards and actioning things on my to-do list. I actually find post Xmas and new year is the perfect decluttering time of the year (even better than spring cleaning – which I also…

Holding onto the past…. Many years ago when my first marriage ended rather abruptly (looong story), my mum warned me that great loss (divorce, death of a dear one, etc) usually takes about two years to recover from the pain and start feeling ready for life again. That piece of advice was NOT what I…

So, I totally admit I’ve been neglecting this blog and guess what? It’s part of my new year’s resolution – pick up my act! So, this morning, I started with my pantry clutter. Let me start by saying that I’ve had a couple of realisations in the last year or so regarding my level of…

How often do you actually do this? Well, this week is the week! Time to take everything out, check the expiry dates and throw out any that have past it. Wipe everything down and replace anything that’s ok. Write a list of items that need to be replenished – panadol, band aids, cough syrup, etc…

So, I re-read Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” recently and fell in love with her approach all over again. It’s such a great way to address our stuff and deciding which things we should let go. The basic premise, is to do your decluttering by category (for eg, ‘clothes’) all in one…

I recently saw on the news a story about the doll temple in Japan. Some Japanese believe their dolls (and other toys) have their own soul and when the child outgrows the toy, it is taken to a shrine for the priests to say prayers of thanks for their service. Some dolls are then ceremonially…

I came across this “Stain Station” which was on Better Homes and Gardens and thought it was a great idea. In this story, it was pitched as a tool box of sorts for the laundry, but it can be slightly tweaked to be utilised for the whole house. For example, I’d add furniture oils and…

Getting the (decluttering) balance right… There are lots of schools of thought about decluttering – from one extreme (get rid of anything you don’t use) to another (keep everything just in case). I think I’m somewhere in the middle. Basically, I think it’s about finding the right balance for you! If you understand why you’re…

Develop habits to stop the clutter Let’s face it, clutter is one of those things in life that just never lets up. It’s just so easy to accumulate stuff and it can be so hard to get rid of it, that the only way to keep the overwhelm and the mountain of possessions at bay…

Baby steps, not just great strides, helps with decluttering! The thing about decluttering is that it never really stops as an issue. We need to buy more clothes, books, kitchen equipment….life can’t stop just because we can’t deal with our current clutter, right? But the thing is to know when to let go of things.…